Providing municipal services (fire, police, recreation, parks) in an urban sprawl environment?
What are the options to address the requirements for municipal service provision in a major canadian city where 95% of new growth is in open suburban greenfield. Our current growth model is unsustainable as we have 31 new communities with moderate density being developed that do or will require municipal infrastructure in the immediate future.
Follow the money.
Why is the sprawl occurring? Because people don’t want to live in the urban area and they can afford to move to the suburbs. If they have the money to afford the move, they have the money to afford the taxes necessary to provide services.
Now, if the question is how will you provide services to the abandoned urban areas, the answer is that you won’t. Demolish them and turn them into parkland.